’09 National Merit semifinalists announced
I just wrapped up writing about the 2008 National Merit Scholarship winners in July.
But already, the list of nearly 200 Oklahoma students who are semifinalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program is out.
The 195 students are among 1,600 nationwide who will go on to compete for $35 million in college scholarships. About half will win, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
I did a few breakdowns of the list of Oklahoma semifinalists:
143 attend public schools.
42 attend private schools.
9 are homeschooled.
1 goes to a charter school.
Three schools yielded more than 10 semifinalists:
The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, with 22.
Jenks High School, with 14.
Holland Hall School in Tulsa, with 13.
The students qualified by earning the highest scores among state test-takers on the 2007 Preliminary SAT exam.
The list of seniors will be narrowed down to a list of finalists before the scholarship winners are announced in the coming months.
Click here for a list of all the Sooner semifinalists.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Back to school, back to court
Two weeks ago, I talked to families in Oklahoma for a national basketball tournament who defended their decision to take part in homeschooling. They were on the defense because of a California court’s ruling that parents without teacher certification cannot constitutionally teach their children at home.
But homeschooling families also went on the offense after the ruling was handed down, and the appellate court has agreed to rehear the case.
The court this time also asked for opinions from the union and state board of education for California, and the union and school district for the city of Los Angeles. Other interested parties were invited to file so-called “friend of the court” briefs.
Judges are scheduled to hear the case again in June.
What do you think the ruling should say this time around? Share your thoughts here at http://blog.newsok.com/educationstation.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
Your thoughts on homeschooling
The Oklahoman published a package of stories and video clips today about homeschooling — why parents choose it, how they feel about recent judicial and legislative moves, what they do to ensure a quality education for their children, how they join together for athletic competitions, and what recent research shows, among other issues.
We’ve shared information with you. Now, we want you to share your thoughts with us. Post your comments here to get a discussion going about these homeschool topics.
